FreightCorp
Former feight rail operator in New South Wales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
FreightCorp, formally Freight Rail, was a railway operator owned by the Government of New South Wales. It was responsible for intrastate and some interstate railway cargo handling from its foundation in January 1989 until it was privatised in August 2002.
44240 at Broadmeadow Locomotive Depot | |
| State-owned corporation overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 16 January 1989 |
| Preceding state-owned corporation | |
| Dissolved | 31 January 2002 |
| Superseding state-owned corporation | |
| Jurisdiction | New South Wales |
| Headquarters | Parramatta |
| Minister responsible | |
| Parent state-owned corporation | State Rail Authority |
| Key document |
|
History
In January 1989, the freight operations of the State Rail Authority were transferred to Freight Rail pursuant to the Transport Administration Act 1988 (NSW).[1]
On 1 July 1996, Freight Rail was corporatised.[2][3] On 24 October 1996, Freight Rail was relaunched as FreightCorp.[4]
On 1 February 2002, along with National Rail, FreightCorp was sold to a joint venture between Patrick Corporation and Toll Holdings as Pacific National.[5][6]
Operations
When established in 1989, Freight Rail was responsible for the operation of all rail freight services in New South Wales. It was also responsible for providing locomotives to haul passenger services for CityRail and CountryLink. Following the opening up of the New South Wales network to other operators, it began to face competition from other operators. Interstate services were transferred to National Rail in the mid-1990s. In 1999, it began to operate coal trains in South Australia on the Leigh Creek to Stirling North line to the Northern Power Station, Port Augusta.[7]
Fleet
Freight Rail inherited all of the State Rail Authority's locomotive fleet. In February 1992, it awarded contracts for fifty-eight 82 class and twenty-nine 90 class locomotives. These allowed it to withdraw most of the 422, 44, 442, 45 and 49 class locomotives. After experimenting with a green and yellow livery, a dark blue, yellow and white livery was introduced in 1991.[citation needed]